Johnson vs Kenwright

After failing for over a year to find the money from investors, banks etc, he then got into the famous spat with Paul Gregg and rejected his idea of a tenancy of 125 years at KD. With only two weeks to go to the absolute deadline given by the public sector partners, after we had fucked around for over twelve months, Kenwright approached Pitcher, due to his historic links with the club, and asked if he could help. Sir Desmond said without hesitating he would do all he could. He very quickly secured considerable sums towards the required £30mill but alas not enough given the short period of time he had and the deadline passed. After a request, no extension was given due to how EFC had messed the partners around for so long. Sir Desmond stated that had he been asked to get involved earlier he would have secured more funds than were required with ease, but he was always fighting against the clock. So yes, for me, Kenwright was right at the centre of the fuck-up that was Kings Dock.

With regards the debacle that was Kirkby, you only have to read the many documents from the inquiry to see that, had it not been stopped by the Secretary of State, we would have ended up with a poor imitation of an already poor stadium. The changes to the plans and planning application limited the capacity to below 45k, limited the noise level to such that it meant no concerts of note would ever be held there, and also allowed KMBC to draw revenue from the facilities, and let's not even start on the transport issues and actual design!!

Yes, we have a new training facility, but what a shame we don't own that either; we had a chance to but passed it up and will end up paying well over the odds for it.

Just because the board has 'business people all over it' means absolutely nothing ? zilch, zero. Being labelled a business person does not a good one make... just look across the park. Hicks and Gillette turned away a number of very wealthy potential investors/buyers because they wanted more money than was on offer, it's what's commonly known as greed, plain and simple. Had it not been for the fact that they were outflanked by Broughton, they'd still be there now, more's the pity. Neither Kenwright nor any of the other Board members have ever put a penny of their own money into the club, with the exception of buying their shares; Bobby Elstone has confirmed this.

I blame Kenwright for being weak... weak because he has undermined both himself and the club by bringing Earl and Green into the fold on their terms; weak because he either can't or won't acknowledge how rapidly we are going backwards as a business; weak because he won't admit his shortcomings and let somebody else take the reigns; and finally, he is weak because he cannot see that keeping his train set all to himself is what will actually ruin it.

The model the Board has implemented is fundamentally flawed and completely unsustainable ? you can only borrow against your assets for so long, and we passed that point in time quite a while ago. The club no longer has any assets to secure loans against, the only assets left are the players, so we are faced with selling the few higher-value players we have to purchase lower-value ones in greater numbers in order to have a meaningful 'squad' ? not the route to success I'd suggest.

One thing's for sure, it's set to be an interesting summer, one way or another!!!

Perhaps the disappointment in Kenwright's ability to make a success of his stewardship of the club is all the greater due to our hopes being higher, based on his lifelong allegiance to the club.

EFC as a business is a crap buy, crap stadium, poor revenue returns at all levels. This can?t be changed overnight, if at all, and BK can?t cross guarantee debt because he doesn?t have the wealth to do so ? that?s why KD failed, we have no money and haven?t had money since Moore?s died!!

IF BK hadn?t re-mortgaged us several times over we would be in the Championship, all this extra debt has been spent on the playing side of EFC, 85% of revenue earned goes to that side of the business, that?s why we have no money left!!

Yes, BK has been weak and soft ? that?s because he is a fan which isn?t the best option sometimes when business decisions need to be made. I was shocked to see season tickets stay at the same price and absorb the VAT increase, absolutely madness decision. Plus they increased the child discount across all areas of the stadium ? again a stupid decision. ST should have been increased and the Child reduction should have been restricted to certain areas or increased dramatically.

EFC now sells premium seats in the main stand to children when they could get maximum price on the walk up market, absolute stupid business decision... but as a fan it makes sense ? there in lies the problem with EFC. Getting rid of BK is a waste of time unless you have somebody with very deep pockets to replace him, if you don?t have such a person then the whole debate/protest is a complete waste of time and pointless, please lets have some common sense on this matter, not just stupid posts.

Another thing, BK doesn?t own EFC he is just the major shareholder at 28% so 72% is owned by other people ? why not include them in this debate? COYB

Imagine if he had had Rights or even Share issues over these last 10 years how much better the Stadium could be as well as retaining assets now gone.

It's still not too late for him to allow others to invest in the Club and to have the proper fiduciary duty to all shareholders. If you recollect when he acquired shares he requested about 30% of the shareholders NOT to sell to him. With his increased wealth provided he and other directors put in their pro rata payment they will not be diluted.

PJ didn't want to sell Big Dunc, but that was our main asset, Joe Royle was fired for attempting to sell Duncan and Kanchelskis to buy Tore Andre Flo plus another player, the ensuing argument led to fisticuffs, to which Royle got sacked.

Like I said in earlier post PJ got cut a short leash due to being a red, fair enough, funny that Alan Ball said the same thing about Kenwright in his book.

BK has been a stable figurehead over the years and has made mistakes of which he agrees (I have asked him). His major fault is he has no cash, if he did he is stupid enough to blow the lot on EFC.

If I had the money I wouldn't bother as it's a lose-lose situation as most people just don't get that we don't have the infrastructure or fan base any longer and that hurts but it is the truth. COYB

From that statement, I would suggest politely, that the 45 years watching us, has to put it mildly addled your brain, I can think of many from having a season ticket from 1969-2002 when I emigrated, far worse than them, the first few years of the current chairmen, springs to mind, although everyone blamed Walter, except 9 years later we have people blaming Moyes, neither were/are bad managers, both work/worked under ridiculous restrictions.

Funny how that worse team ended up with a trophy, funny game someone said.......

The transformation since that day, going back 13 years I think, is unbelievable. That was under Johnson's tenure now it's under Kenwright.

For sticking with his Manager and not behaving like a Peter Swales at Man City, who also supported his club but swapped his managers relentlessly and led the side to relegation, then Kenwright is streets ahead of Johnson.

For the past 5 or 6 years, the Premier League has become more and more competitive. At the top of the table and lower down. This year it's been heavily magnified, by the fact a win or two would put us into a European spot... when 6 years ago we'd be lucky to be out of the bottom 3... let alone where we are now.

I can't remember the exact year but I am sure it was around 95-96 that West Ham got relegated with 42 points and I am sure they finished bottom too.

So yes, while what we had wasn't the best, the shower we have now wouldn't have survived back then, not a chance.

Misty eyed? Not at all, but I want my team to actually achieve something... regardless of the cash flow... and the highlight is that 9 years on with an (alleged) better team, in a much easier league (than it was in the 90s when it was far more difficult and far more technical) that we are beyond incapable of winning any kind of trophy.

We are more skint now than we've ever been, and the only thing left that we can sell is the players... what do you suppose will happen then?

Regardless, it's going to be brutal in the summer if we don't bring in anyone in and we end up selling... I don't think the fans can take much more of this entire BS and something will give but it won't be the fans ? you can be sure of that.

BK is not holding us back, it's impossible as he only owns 28% of the company, so it?s a collective bargaining that the board has already agreed, that is the selling policy agreed at board level ? otherwise DD wouldn?t work if they didn?t have the green light to proceed.

This goes against all the anti-BK people as it doesn?t fit their slant so they fail to understand how it works at that level. EFC is for sale but to a bidder that meets the criteria; not one person has ever even got close with money on the table, simple fact I?m afraid.

People can accuse the board of asking for too much money, of course, but that?s why we have hired consultants to aid the sale (Mr Harris) who has valued and sold Premier League clubs before. Unless you have a love of EFC, I can?t see why any businessman would touch us, and that hurts but it?s a reality. COYB

While I don't disagree that owning a football club appears to be a questionable business decision, if Billl Kenwright nets £40M for his 28% share, bought for £8M 11 years ago, that's a pretty damn solid rate of return that few businessmen would sneeze at.

It didn't take much with him starting out as a red, I'll admit, but he did an awful lot for us off the field, which was to bear fruit later: academy, ground moves, land acquisitions... BK has sold the land, sold our decent academy players, and never challenged the Stanley Park swindle pulled off by them across the park.

PJ did inquire twice about Stanley Park and was given short shrift, why? because the council wanted it for their darlings, that is why the Echo ran the Johnson hate campaign (as, with PJ in charge, he would not have allowed RS free rein over Stanley Park; Kings Dock was a ruse for us to focus our attention away from Stanley Park) and foolishy our fans fell for it. We all make mistakes, the first thing to do is to hold your hands and accept as fans we were wrong/hasty, then we have a chance of moving on, and consequently sorting out the debacle our current chairman has imposed on us.

Some people keep saying about winning a trophy...
Some people want a cash injection...

Well folks, I give you Birmingham City as an example of what could happen in this day in age. Won a trophy this season at Wembley in a cracking match for the fans. Got a nice rich owner. But I would bet every single one of them would rather be in our position. They could be relegated in a few weeks... and then what?

Bullshit Billy promised no more relegation dog-fights and he has by hook or by crook delivered. I'm no fan of his stewardship by a long way, but we were shite under Smith. Don't forget that. We have got world class players to watch at a creaky Goodison, so enjoy it, because we will all be moaning when new investment does come in and when Goodison goes and we will all be harping on about the good old days of Moyes and the couple of wins over Liverpool at Goodison.

Rodwell will go and it will all kick off again about ambition... well, an England international signed on for us again this week, thanks Jags... and from what Rodwell has shown in the last few games, if I was BK, I would bite United's hands off for £25m ? as long as they took Bily as well!
COYB.

I distinctly remember Granda at the time were willing to pay $40 million, which was rejected and they raised it to $60 million but by that time the fat controller had taken over and told them to piss off if I remember correctly?

Whatever profit he makes is down to him and his colleagues agreeing a sale price, I have stated they may be asking too much, that could be a genuine reason but my point is that people say we are not for sale when we are. The for sale sign is up and we have contracted an estate agent to do the deed, in the form of Mr Harris.

My opinion is EFC isn?t worth a punt as the capital needed to re-generate the company is far higher than any benefit or possible return. In normal business terms you would buy EFC for 1 pence and take on the liabilities, but again at this price you still need massive pockets, it's not as easy as everybody thinks. COYB.

The club now has 11 players out on loan, the smallest squad in the EPL and nothing whatsoever to offer in terms of assets beyond player contracts so, if the price isn't lowered, they have even less likelihood to achieve interest never mind a sale. The collective bargaining behind the major shareholders is weakening on a daily basis; if I was a canny buyer, I'd wait for the arse to fall out of it and pick up the pieces from the receivers but that's common practice for hardball when you know the seller is in the shit and won't lower their price.

Everton would need an investment of £15M net over the next 3 years to put us into the top 4 and challenge the top, surely someone on the board is capable of putting that amount of money in?

That should have been done in 2004 when 4th was achieved, but no, anytime we have had a chance to challenge, this board has closed the checkbook.

Just imagine that, if Man Utd had the season that Liverpool have had this season next year, and missed out on the Champions League? They would be right up shit street with a horrendous debt, Rooney demanding Champions League football etc.

I backed us to finish above Liverpool by the way this year and they still will do us. Bitter... I am!!! Give the kids a run... nothing to lose this season.